This is another in a series of re-posts and was originally published on the early version of this blog on July 29, 2009.

Whether you’re looking for a job, looking for love or looking to make the sale, one thing can help you on your quest – confidence. Finding confidence, however, is no easy task. Over the years, I’ve always been amazed and amused that men’s shaving products have been sold to us as a source of confidence (see below):

I like this commercial (as well as a close shave), but the fourth blade on my razor is not going to give me the extra confidence to introduce myself to that woman that I’m infatuated with. It’s not going to help me make the winning basket to win the championship game.

According to Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary, confidence is “a faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way.” It also describes confidence as, “the quality or state of being certain.”

I am not an expert on confidence, but a student. However there is one tip that, to me, stands out when it comes to having more confidence. You can call it the law of attraction approach to confidence: it is to act as if you have the confidence already.

Like everyone, I’ve had moments where my confidence has been tested. But, I’m happy to say that acting as if has helped me in those circumstances. I noticed a distinct improvement in my confidence overall when I acted as if I were confident. It is important to remember that your level of confidence is constantly changing and different situations and circumstances will have an effect on your confidence. Unfortunately, you cannot leave the confidence switch “on” because it always seems to shut itself off by itself from time to time.

In the introduction to his book, The Confidence Course, Walter Anderson asked his friend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale how to achieve a life of confidence. His answer: “Be one hundred percent alive.”

We are living at a time when we humans will spend an endless amount of money for clothes, plastic surgery, cars, and other unnecessary items all in the name of feeling good about ourselves and gaining confidence. If you’re looking for a boost of confidence, start within before spending all of your money.